Tarak Ben Ammar’s filmography: Profession: producer
The South "comes up" to the North

"George Lucas was delighted with the shooting of Star Wars in Tunisia. Above all, people like him or Spielberg love to meet producers that do not make films as if they would be selling tomatoes. And who manages to convince them that to have an artistic and economic unit filming outside of their cocoon."

"On arrival, Spielberg’s reaction was very American. He had brought with him crates full of American food, video cassettes to watch before going to sleep. The most surprising is that he crossed Tunisia without realizing that it was under close control and in a state of siege. Khadafy had just completed his operation on Gafsa... I gave instructions to hide any newspapers that he might come across... If he had learned of the situation, he would have headed straight back out. Especially since his entourage was traumatized by the kidnapping of hostages in Iran. They talked about it all the time... He also left delighted. Later, at the time of Schindler’s List, I saw Spielberg again. Naturally, I told him everything; we laughed about it, of course."

"I decided to produce an opera film, even though I didn’t know the first thing about it. I had an inferiority complex. I loved the music, but as soon as they started to sing... At the time, there were no subtitles... I said to Franco Zeffirelli: 'I want to produce an opera film for your cook and myself, for people who would never go to see an opera as it is too expensive.' We made La Traviata, my greatest success."

"To finance it, I went to see Gaumont, the big companies... I was a minority co-producer of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but also Deux heures Moins le Quart Avant Jésus-Christ. Gaumont said: 'You know, Mr Ben Ammar, it’s not really your world.' In other words, don’t get involved in culture, you don’t understand it. I was very hurt and even more determined to do it."

"I consider cinema to be a set of feelings, emotions and spectacle rather than a political message, although it can be that too. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t entertain people with tears. This is what I did with La Traviata, a great but inaccessible culture, treated in a spectacular, emotional way... which you leave saying to yourself: 'Damn, opera’s easy to understand!' "
   
"When Franco Zeffirelli showed me the first rushes, my throat was tight and my eyes filled with tears. When we were leaving the projection room, he told me that he was worried about going over budget. I replied: 'How can you expect me to talk about money after what you just showed me !'" The work cost $ 8 million, financed by the profits of the films of Philippe Clair and Jean Yanne: "Culture needs commercial films !"

This was one of the three most expensive French films of the year. The feature-length film required one and a half years of preparation, and fifteen weeks of filming with French, Italian and Tunisian teams. The film involved 50 tons of decors and accessories, 11,000 extras, 1,500 costumes, 500 wigs, 800 pairs of shoes... An enormous success, it was ranked third at the box-office in 1982, with 4.6 million entries (behind E.T. and L'As des as).

"I had the idea of making Aldo Maccione into a star. Thanks to L'Aventure, c'est l'aventure by Claude Lelouch and C'est pas moi, c'est lui by Pierre Richard – filmed in Tunisia –, he was already a minor star, but he always played the second or third role. As for Philippe Clair, he was rejected by all the French producers by snobbism. I took these two supposedly Z-series talents to make films that were enormous commercial successes."

Tais-toi quand tu parles ! and Plus beau que moi tu meurs, by Philippe Clair with Aldo Maccione, are popular comedies that attracted audiences of some 6 million in France. "The film critics held these choices against me. They don’t like to see producers getting their hands dirty with low-cost laughter! But frankly, do we have the right to scorn millions of persons that pay € 9 for a good simple laugh? Look at Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis."

"I wrote it for Romy Schneider, who was a friend – she died in my apartment. I still have some enthusiastic lines written by her on the script. This film was for Gérard Depardieu and Romy. Gérard Klein and Marlène Jobert took over the roles capably. It is one of my favorite films."

It is a remake of Incompreso by Luigi Comencini (1967). "During the script writing and filming stages, we had exemplary relations, In the script, we had foreseen two possible endings. Schatzberg said to me: 'Let’s try them both and you can choose.' By contract, and because I financed the film without the help of the majors, he gave me the right to decide on the final cut. With his version, the film was refused by all the American distributors, who found it to be too slow, not emotional enough, depressing. With his agreement, and given that I had the right to do it, I re-edited the film. In the company of his editor who had the same view as me. He agreed, except that he didn’t want to include the final sequence. MGM released the film and, unhappy, he hid behind the notion of director, nevertheless without requesting that his name be removed from the titles. Since then, we have excellent relations again"

When Claude Berri advised Tarak Ben Ammar to get involved in Roman Polanski’s Pirates project, the film was already an old sea snake! The producer first spent two years acquiring the rights of the companies having invested in the film, for a total amount of $ 2 million.

"It was just the beginning, a first step to start afresh with the hands free... i.e., practically from zero. I very quickly realized that the film’s budget would be close to $ 30 million, a sum that was impossible to cover alone or with European partners. The Hollywood company Universal, which had successfully distributed La Traviata, allowed itself to be convinced to finance two-thirds of the production. In November 1983, high drama, Universal’s management is changed and the new bosses decide to take their investment back. I found myself on my ship-building yard with a large number of persons working under contract and $ 7 million already spent. Worse, it was as if this change of situation had daubed the whole project with a red mark of infamy. I decided to go ahead, no matter what."

Dino de Laurentiis came to the rescue of Tarak Ben Ammar, and MGM also participated in the film’s budget, not forgetting financing from the United Arab Emirates. In the mean time, Jack Nicholson, the designated hero, abandoned the project, in the absence of a financial agreement. It was difficult to get MGM to accept Walter Matthau. But, in the end, the film was made. It was a failure in the US. Europe allowed us to recover at least part of the investment (1.5 million entries on average per country). Tarak Ben Ammar decides to sue Universal, which he wins on appeal in 1994: the court grants him $ 16 million in compensation.

"Franco Zeffirelli said to me: 'You have an appointment with Elizabeth Taylor.' I drive up to Bel Air, ring the doorbell, I am invited in. Picasso paintings, the Oscars... the opulence! The longer you stay in the salon, the smaller you become. More than that, you are reduced to nothingness! After 15 minutes, I am taken to see Liz at the poolside. I was wearing a suit, it was terribly hot. She was lying down wearing a see-through wrap, allowing to see without seeing, a hat, sunglasses... She took her sunglasses off, and said: 'Young man' – My ego took a dive! I try to sell her my wares. She replies: 'Ok, I have a price: one million dollars.' She catches me off guard. Obviously, I say yes immediately, I knew that was the price. She was a delicious friend, who covered me with gifts. The staging of the reception was extraordinary. This anecdote is a worthwhile one, the film less so!"